CNN posted on X that Kenyan President William Ruto called President Joe Biden to organize a “naval invasion of the Haitian coast.”
No, CNN did not announce that presidents of Kenya and U.S. discussed invading Haiti by sea
If your time is short
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The X post is not on CNN’s official X page or web archived versions of CNN’s X page.
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A CNN spokesperson said the post was fabricated and CNN did not report on the claim in the post.
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Learn more about PolitiFact’s fact-checking process and rating system.
Political turmoil in Haiti has reached crisis levels and the nation’s prime minister agreed to resign under pressure from gangs. Misleading social media posts are adding to the confusion.
An Instagram post shared what looked like a screenshot from CNN’s official X account: “Kenyan present William Ruto reportedly called president Joe Biden to organize the purchase of ‘several dozen’ WW2 era amphibious landing crafts for a naval invasion of the Haitian coast,” read the March 14 post, which appeared to misspell Ruto’s title.
According to the image, the statement appeared on CNN’s X account at 10:25 a.m. March 12.
This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)
The post is fabricated, CNN spokesperson Emily Kuhn, told PolitiFact. CNN’s official X account shows no evidence of the post and it’s not in CNN’s X account archives. The screengrab shows CNN’s avatar as a red circle while the real account has a square logo as its avatar.
Kuhn said the news the faux post contained is “not something CNN reported or posted on X.”
CNN X posts typically contain links to CNN articles, but the Instagram screenshot includes no links. We searched Google and Nexis news archives and found no CNN articles about Ruto and Biden planning to invade Haiti.
We also searched other publications for news of Kenya seeking to use U.S. vessels to invade Haiti but found no credible reports.
Kenyan President William Ruto said March 13 that his country would lead a United Nations-backed multinational police force to help reduce gang violence in Haiti after a transitional presidential council installs an interim president. The police force would consist of at least 1,000 police officers, but the report didn’t mention naval vessels.
In 1915, the U.S. Marine Corps invaded Haiti to address political instability. The U.S. occupied the Caribbean nation until 1934.
We rate the claim that CNN posted on X that Ruto called Biden to organize a “naval invasion of the Haitian coast” False.
Our Sources
Instagram post (archived), March 14, 2024
CNN X page, accessed March 17, 2024
Web archived CNN X page, March 14, 2024
Email interview, Emily Kuhn, CNN spokesperson, March 18, 2024
The Associated Press, Kenya’s president reaffirms commitment to deploy a police force to Haiti to help quell gang violence, Marth 13, 2024
